FIVE NEW TEAMS, THREE NEW COUNTRIES TO COMPETE IN 2024 BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE SEASON TIPPING OFF ON MARCH 9 IN SOUTH AFRICA
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has announced that the 2024 BAL season will feature 12 club teams from 12 African countries, including five new teams and three new countries. The season will start on Saturday, March 9 at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, with a record 48 games being played in four different countries – Pretoria, Cairo, Dakar, and Kigali.
The 12 teams will be divided into three conferences of four teams each, with seven teams having previously competed in the BAL before. Petro de Luanda from Angola and US Monastir from Tunisia will be competing for a record fourth season. Five teams are making their BAL debut, including the first BAL teams from Burundi, Central African Republic, and Libya.
Each conference will play a 12-game group phase, during which each team will face the other three teams in its conference twice. Home teams in each market will play on every gameday, including weekends. The Kalahari Conference group phase will take place from March 9-17 at the SunBet Arena, followed by the Nile Conference group phase from April 19-27 at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo, and the Sahara Conference group phase from May 4-12 at the Dakar Arena in Dakar. The top two teams from each conference and the top two third-place teams from across the three conferences will travel to BK Arena in Kigali for four seeding games, followed by an eight-game, single-elimination Playoffs and Finals from May 24-June 1.
The season opener will feature FUS Rabat Basketball from Morocco, a first-time BAL participant, against Petro de Luanda at 4:00 p.m. CAT. In the second game, the home team Cape Town Tigers from South Africa will take on first-time BAL participant Dynamo Basketball Club from Burundi at 7:00 p.m. CAT. On the opening day of the Nile Conference, home team Al Ahly from Egypt will begin its title defense against two-time BAL participant City Oilers from Uganda at 5:00 p.m. GMT. The complete game schedule is available at BAL.NBA.com.
| Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) | Al Ahly (Egypt) | Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball (APR; Rwanda)* |
| Dynamo Basketball Club (Burundi)* | Al Ahly Ly (Libya)* | AS Douanes (Senegal) |
| FUS Rabat Basketball (Morocco)* | Bangui Sporting Club (Central African Republic)* | Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria) |
| Petro de Luanda (Angola) | City Oilers (Uganda) | US Monastir (Tunisia) |
*First-time BAL participant
Tickets for the Kalahari Conference group phase in Pretoria and the Sahara Conference group phase in Dakar are on sale now at BAL.NBA.com, Ticketmaster.co.za (Pretoria) and Teewtickets.com (Dakar). Single-game tickets start at 75 ZAR for the Kalahari Conference group phase and 2,500 XOF for the Sahara Conference group phase. Fans can save up to 35% off single-game ticket prices for group packages by emailing BalTickets@thebal.com, and up to 20% off single-game ticket prices for all games during the Sahara Conference group phase by selecting two, four, or all games. Fans who purchase tickets will also have free access to BAL Fan Zones at the arena in each market. Ticket sales information for the Nile Conference group phase in Cairo and the Playoffs and Finals in Kigali will be announced at a later date.
Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia earned their participation in the 2024 BAL season by winning their respective national leagues. The remaining six teams, which come from Burundi, Central African Republic, Libya, Morocco, South Africa, and Uganda, secured their participation through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October to November 2023.
Rwanda Development Board, NIKE, Jordan Brand, and Wilson will return as BAL Foundational Partners. The league’s roster of world-class marketing partners also includes Afreximbank, Hennessy, and RwandAir.
Additional information about the 2024 BAL season will be announced in the coming weeks.